The
Guan
Yin
Statue,
a
modern
representation
of
goddess
Guan
Yin.Religion
in
Macau
is
diverse:
there
is
no
state
religion;
the
freedom
of
religion
and
belief
is
protected
by
Macau's
constitutional
document
the
Macau
Basic
Law.

The
Macau
government
practices
freedom
of
religion
and
respects
the
rights
of
the
people
in
Macau.
Based
on
3:34
of
the
Basic
Law,
"The
people
in
Macau
have
freedom
of
religion
and
they
can
preach,
or
participate
in
religious
activities."
Also,
in
the
3:120,
"The
Macau
Special
Administrative
Region
base
on
the
principle
of
the
freedom
of
religion
and
belief,
the
government
does
not
intervene
the
interior
of
religion,
the
religion
organization
and
the
believers
to
keep
in
touch
and
develop
the
relationship
with
the
religion
organization
and
the
believers
of
the
oversea
of
Macau."
The
religion
organization
can
start
the
religion
college
or
other
schools,
hospitals
and
the
welfare
organization
or
others
case
work
in
accordance
with
the
law;
The
schools
which
are
started
by
religion
organization
can
continue
their
religion
education,
include
to
teach
the
religion
lessons;
The
religion
organization
can
have
the
right
for
obtain,
use,
handle,
inherit
and
adopt
the
contribution
base
on
the
law.
The
right
in
the
wealth
of
religion
organization
is
protected
by
the
law."

To
compare
the
kinds
of
religion
between
Macau
and
Hong
Kong,
the
kinds
of
religion
is
not
many
in
Macau.
In
the
structure
of
the
religion
believers,
Macau
is
like
other
Chinese
communities,
people
usually
believe
in
the
traditional
Folk
religion.
Most
of
the
believers
are
Buddhism
(About
79.3%
population
in
2006);
Because
of
the
historical
background
of
Macau,
the
Roman
Catholic
Church
and
Protestant
Church
of
the
Christianity
are
animated
in
Macau
community
and
have
some
believers
to
support
them,
included
some
alternative
Christianity
(About
7%
in
2006).
As
of
December
2006,
there
were
approximately
2,500
Baha'is.
The
Baha'is
in
1988
established
a
250-student
institution
that
encompasses
a
kindergarten,
primary
school,
and
secondary
school.
There
are
about
400
Muslims
in
Macau
and
one
mosque.[1]

The
religion
which
is
the
activist
in
the
case
work
is
the
Catholic
now.
However,
because
of
the
limit
of
the
resources
and
Portuguese
Government
is
partial
toward
Catholicism,
others
religions
have
no
chance
to
participate
in
the
case
work.
However,
after
Macau
returned
to
China,
the
government
has
been
more
neutral.
According
to
recent
surveys,
Catholicism
is
on
the
decline
in
Macau.[2]

Protection
by
the
Basic
Law

The
Basic
Law
of
Macau
provides
for
freedom
of
conscience,
freedom
of
religious
belief,
freedom
to
preach,
and
freedom
to
conduct
and
participate
in
religious
activities.
Mainland
China
does
not
govern
religious
practices
in
Macau.
The
Basic
Law
states
that
"The
Government
of
Macau
Special
Administrative
Region,
consistent
with
the
principle
of
religious
freedom,
shall
not
interfere
in
the
internal
affairs
of
religious
organizations
or
in
the
efforts
of
religious
organizations
and
believers
in
Macau
to
maintain
and
develop
relations
with
their
counterparts
outside
Macau,
or
restrict
religious
activities
which
do
not
contravene
the
laws
of
the
Region.

The
Religious
Freedom
Ordinance
requires
religious
organizations
to
register
with
Macau's
Identification
Services
Office.
There
have
been
no
reports
of
discrimination
in
the
registration
process.
The
Freedom
of
Religion
Ordinance,
which
remained
in
effect
after
the
handover,
provides
for
freedom
of
religion,
privacy
of
religious
belief,
freedom
of
religious
assembly,
freedom
to
hold
religious
processions,
and
freedom
of
religious
education.
It
also
stipulates
that
religious
groups
may
maintain
and
develop
relations
with
religious
groups
abroad.

Traditional
Belief

Confucianism

Many
people
who
live
in
Macau
are
Chinese.
The
culture
of
Macau
is
influenced
by
Chinese
Confucianism
and
morality.
In
1909,
the
Macau
Confucianism
organization
was
started.
The
organization
was
subordinated
by
Beijing
Confucianism
Organization
at
first,
but
independent
later.
The
purpose
of
the
Macau
Confucianism
Organization
is
to
"respect
Confucianism,
spread
the
holy
virtue,
educate
the
talented,
promote
the
culture".
Chinese
usually
value
the
spirit
and
culture
of
the
virtue.
To
spread
the
Confucianist
spirit
and
culture
of
virtue,
in
1913
the
Organization
started
a
small
school
in
Macau.
in
order
to
popularize
it
in
the
folk
education.
In
1960,
the
organization
printed
the
Confucianism
Select
for
Secondary
School.
It
has
collected
about
74
sayings
from
Analects
of
Confucius,
Mencius
(Book)
and
other
Confucianist
classics,
in
order
to
let
students
to
recite
them.

It
is
the
birthday
of
Confucius
in
the
27th
August
of
the
lunar
calendar,
the
Organization
will
lead
the
Chinese
and
schools
which
are
comes
from
different
classes
to
hold
the
ceremony
commemorate
and
sacrifice.

Buddhism

Buddhism
is
the
largest
religion
in
Macau,with
92.3%
of
Macau's
population
professing
the
religion.
It
is
the
fastest
growing
religion
in
Macau.
Buddhism
has
influenced
much
of
Macau's
traditional
culture.

In
1807,
Rev.
Dr.
Robert
Morrison,
the
first
Protestant
missionary
to
China,
arrived
in
China
via
Macau.
He
started
his
missionary
work
in
China
after
his
arrival.
However,
Morrison's
object
was
the
Chinese
that
lived
in
Guangzhou,
so
he
had
not
yet
started
a
Chinese
Protestant
church
in
Macau.
Later,
after
the
Opium
War
of
1842,
the
Qing
Dynasty
gave
Hong
Kong
to
United
Kingdom,
and
the
Protestant
missionaries
and
the
British
who
lived
in
Macau
all
moved
to
Hong
Kong,
including
all
the
British
Protestants,
so
there
were
few
Protestant
Christians
in
Macau
for
a
long
time.
By
the
20th
century,
some
Chinese
Protestants
had
meetings
in
some
Christian
homes.
The
most
famous
Chinese
Christians
to
open
their
homes
for
Christian
to
meet
were
Mr.
Lui
De
Shan
and
Dr.
Yu
Mei
De.
For
the
support
from
the
churches
in
Hong
Kong,
Ji
Dou
Church,
which
is
the
first
Chinese
Protestant
church
in
Macau
(its
name
was
Ji
Dou
Hall
at
first),
was
registered
with
the
Macau
Portuguese
Government
in
1905,
and
church
was
built
at
Hei
Sha
Huan.
Also,
the
Macau
Baptist
Church,
the
second
Chinese
Protestant
church
in
Macau,
was
started.
Many
Chinese
Protestant
churches
were
founded
thereafter.
Today
there
are
about
4,000
Protestants
in
Macau
who
participate
in
church
worship
activities.
An
average
of
just
50
people
always
participate
in
the
worship
at
each
church.
Also,
there
are
lots
of
churches
in
Macau
that
were
founded
by
many
different
Communions
from
Hong
Kong
and
other
countries,
such
as
the
Anglican
Church,
Baptist
Church
and
Lutheran
Church,
but
historically
here
was
little
cooperation
among
them.
When
the
Union
of
Christian
Evangelical
Churches
in
Macau
was
started
in
1990,
the
churches
began
greater
cooperation
with
each
other.
In
2006,
the
7th
Chinese
Congress
on
World
Evangelization
has
held
in
Macau
and
it
indirectly
inspired
the
Protestant
churches
in
Macau
to
unite.

Missionaries
are
free
to
conduct
missionary
activities
and
are
active
in
Macau.
More
than
30,000
children
are
enrolled
in
Catholic
schools,
and
a
large
number
of
influential
non-Christians
have
received
a
Christian
education.
Religious
entities
may
use
electronic
media
to
preach.

For
the
case
works,
because
of
the
pressure
from
the
Portuguese
Government
and
the
Roman
Catholic
Church,
the
Protestant
churches
are
limited
to
do
any
case
works.
Also,
the
Protestant
churches
are
limited
by
the
inadequate
resources
and
lots
of
Protestant
schools
were
closed
after
the
"3/12
movement"
had
happened,
which
makes
the
Protestant
church
has
lesser
participated
in
the
education
of
Macau.
There
are
seven
Protestant
Secondary
Schools
and
Primary
Schools
in
Macau
at
present.
There
are
some
recovery
programs
are
hold
up
by
some
Protestant
organization
and
obtain
the
government
to
support.
The
counsellings
service
of
Protestant
Organization
are
started
by
Macau
Chinese
Christian
Missionary
in
2005,
and
now
just
it
has
still
provided
the
counsellings.

Islam
has
been
present
in
Macau
since
before
the
Ming
Dynasty.
Although
the
exact
time
and
manner
of
its
introduction
is
disputed,
it
is
traditionally
held
that
it
was
brought
to
the
area
by
traders.
During
World
War
II a
large
number
of
ethnic
Hui
Muslims
fled
to
Macau
to
escape
devastation
in
the
rest
of
the
country.
At
present
Macau
has
one
mosque
and
Muslim
cemetery
to
serve
the
city's
more
than
four
hundred
Muslims
that
associate
under
the
name
of
"The
Macau
Islamic
Society".
This
mosque
went
under
renovation
in
the
late
months
of
the
year
2007.
This
mosque
is
planned
to
be
doubled
in
size
to
provide
a
more
modern
mosque
in
the
heart
of
Macau.